Film apparatus



v June 18, 1940.

A. w.`ToNDREAU 2,204,917

FILM APPARATUS Filed Feb. 12, 195e :s sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR. ALBEN W Tampa-Au ATTO EY June 18,' .1940. v A. W. TONDREAU FILM APPARATUS Filq Feb. 12, 1938 5 'sheets-sheet 3 f INVENTOR. ALaE/Pr' W Town/awwi BY ATTORNEY Patented June 18, 1940 UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,204,917 FILM APPARATUS Albert W. Tondreau, Glendale, Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., a corporation of Delaware 12, 193g, Serial N0. 190,237

Application February 7 Claims.

plurality of substantially parallel elongated loops in one or more elongated film drying compartw ments while a current of drying air is passed through the compartments to remove the moisture adhering to the film. In order to eiect compactness of the drying apparatus and to hold a maximum amount of iilm in each compartment i at any one time. the iilm loops are generally made comparatively long, on the order of six or seven feet in length. Also the various strands of the parallel lm loops are run as close together as possible. One factor which limits the closeness of the spacing as well as the length of the various film loops is the flapping or swaying of the Various nlm strands dueto the action of the air current thereon, which flapping tends to cause adjacent nlm strands to engage each other and therefore scratch the emulsion surfaces\thereof. 'I'his is especially apparent in the early stages of drying wherein the film emusion is very susceptible to scratching .due to its soft and sticky nature during'that period. It is to be noted that the apparently obvious remedy of stretching or tensioning the filmias ,by introducing a lhigh spreading force between the lm guiding means at either end of the variousllm loops cannot be resorted to due to the relatively low tensile strength of the film, the ease with which the sprocket perforations thereof can be enlarged or torn out completely while the lm is being drawn under tension by a lm driving sprocket, as well as due to the detrimental stretching c ect on the lm while it is wet.

One object of the present invention is to reduce the flapping action ofthe film strands in a plurality of elongated film loops while being dried by a current of air. I

A further object of the invention is to improve the facilities for inspecting the iilm while it is passing through-'the'dry box without interfering with the flow of air throughthe iilm drying compartment.

A further object of the invention is to improve the nim drive, particularly for a plurality of adjacent film compartments.

A still further object of the invention is 'to prevent an edge cr side thrust of an elongated u film while passing over a plurality of spaced Calif., assignor to New York, N. Y.,

spool heads, and/or while passing from one compartment to another.

Ihe manner in which the aboveand other objects of the invention are accomplished will be readily understood on reference to the accom- 5 panying specication read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a schematic elevational view of a film drying apparatus embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional, elevational view taken I0 longitudinally through one of the drying compartments of the apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a transverse view, partly in section, of

' a pair of the lm compartments, the sectional portion thereof being along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. l5

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view through the iilm guiding spool and lm sprocket assembly for passing the film successively from one compartment to an adjacent compartment, and is taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the lm driving sprocket and its associate mechanism. and is taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, the film drying apparatus comprises a row of vertically ex- 2li tending juxtaposed lm drying compartments III,

il, I2, I3, I4 and I5. These compartments are placed end to end and are supported in an opening I6 formed in asupporting floor I1. Condi- I tioned drying air is supplied by an air condi- 30 tioning unit, generally indicated at I8, and is passed in succession through the various compartments I0 to I5, inclusive, by a blower unit I9. Air conditioning unit I8 may be of conventional construction, means being associated there- 35 with to regulate the temperature and humidity of the air passed therethrough to suit the drying requirements of the various compartments. The unit I8 is supported on a lower oor 2| and has the inlet conduitv 22 thereof opening 40 exteriorly of the room 23 formed in part by the upper and lower floors I'l and 2i and by walls 20 and 20. The outlet conduit 24 of the air conditioning unit I8 opens .upwardly into a longitudinally extending conduit,25.y Conduit 25, at 45' one end thereof, opens into the inlet of blower unit I9 which is shown diagrammatically as comprising a centrifugal blower 26 driven by an elelxtric motor 21. The blower 26 exhausts the air drawn through the conduit 25 upwardly sq through a vertically extending rectangular duct 28 communicating with the lower opening of the drying compartment I5. A semicircular duct 30 communicates the upper opening of the compartment l5 with the mi upper opening of the next adjacent compartment I4 to convey the air passing upwardly through the compartment I5 successively down through the compartment I4. A lower semi-circular duct 3l similar to that of 30, extends across the lower openings of the adjacent compartments I3, and I4 to direct the air up through the compart ment I3 after passing through the compartment I4. Upper and lower ducts 32, 33 and 34 similar to those at 30 and 3I extend across the upper and lower openings of the compartments I 0 to I3, inclusive, to successively pass the conditioned drying air through these various compartments. The air on being passed through the compartment I0 is exhausted through a vertically extending duct 35 opening into an exhaust conduit36 communicating with the exterior of the room 23.

The longitudinally extending conduit 25 opens at the end thereof opposite the blower unit I9 into the conduit ,36 and is adapted to be closed by a swinging valve diagrammatically indicated at 38 and pivoted at 39. Valve 38 may be swung through an arc of 90 duit 36 and communicate the exhaust duct 35 with the conduit 25. A valve 40, similar to that of 39, is provided at the juncture of the conduits 24 and 25 and is pivoted at 4I to permit the conduit 24 to be closed.

By moving each of the valves 38 and 40 through an angle of 90"` from the position illustrated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 so as to close the conduits 36 and 24 respectively, the air forced through the various drying compartments by the blower unit I9 may be re-circulated through the closed circuit thusformed, if desired. Also, the valves 38 and 40 may be adjusted in any midway positions so as to permit bi-passing or re-circu lating of part of the conditioned air while adding thereto and exhausting therefrom measured portions of air.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, the compartment I 0 is illustrated in detail and comprises vertically extending end Walls 43 and 44, anda back wall 45. Vertically extending structural angle members as at 46, 41 and 48 formingcorner posts are mounted in each corner of the compartment I 0 to support the-end and back Walls 43, 44 and 45, respectively. Transversely extending angle members 50 and 5I are provided across the upper ends of the compartment end walls 43 and 44 to form a means for lsecuring the semicircular duct 34 to the upper end of compartment It will be noted in Fig. 3 that the sides 52 and 53 of the semi-circular'- duct 32 are substantially flush with the back and front walls 45 and 54, respectively, of the compartment I0, thus forming a smooth passage at least in a transversely extending direction. Transversely extending semi-circular vanes 55, 56 and 51, concentric with the outer shell of the duct 34, lare mounted in this duct to guide a current of air in a semicircular path from the compartment II to the compartment I0 in a uniform cross sectional movement, thus preventing bouncing of the air from one wall to another as it passes from one compartment to the other. -That is, a uniform velocity is maintained throughout the entire cross-sectional area of the air current passing downwardly from the exit opening of the duct 32. Similar vanes are provided in the other semicircular ducts 30 to 33, inclusive.

An upper spool head or bar in the form of a horizontally extending channel member 68 is to close the exhaust consecured between the rear anglemembers 46 and 48 by bolts 60.- The forward or inner face 56 of the channel 58 lies ush with the rear wall 45 to form a smooth passage for the air current passing through the compartment I0. As shown in detail in Fig. 5, the ends 6| and 62 of the wall 45 adjacent the channel 58 are bent inwardly forming flanges which fit against the upper and lower legs of the channel 58 and are suitably secured thereto.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5 in particular, spaced projections 63 formed on the channel member 58 extend into the compartment I0. Each of the projections 63 rotatably supports a film guiding spool 64 with the axis thereof extending at an angle of 45 to the length of the channel member 58. The adjacent overlapping end faces of the various spools 64 are spaced apart sufficiently to allow threading of the lm on these various spools by sliding the film transversely therebetween. This obviates the necessity of passing the leading end ofl the lm between the surface of the spool over which it is being threaded and the edge of the next succeeding spool supporting projection 63.

A lower spool head is provided, comprising a horizontally extending channel member 65 (Figs. Zand 3). A plurality of horizontally spaced pro jections 66 extending inwardly from the member 65 rotatably support a plurality of film spools 61. The axes of spools 61 are arranged in a common horizontal plane, all being parallel with each other, and arranged at an angle of 45 to the length of the member 65, and at to the axes of the upper film spools 64. The channel member 65 has a pair of cross heads 66 and 61' formed at either end thereof. Grooved rollers 68 and 69 are rotatably mounted at either end of each of the cross heads 66 and 61, these rollers being guided vertically along respective vertical guide rails 10 and 1I suitably secured to the end walls 43 and 44, respectively, of the compartment I0. This arrangement permits the various spools 61 carried by the channel member 65 to be reciprocated vertically permitting the length of film in the compartment to be varied as desired and to compensate for shrinkage of the film as it is dried. f

It will be noted that the size and spacing of the various upper and lower film spools 64 and 61, respectively, are such that the path of the film 12 as it passes from a lower spool 61 to an upper spool 64 (Fig. 4) is at right angles to the axis of rotation of both of those film spools. 'Ihe same is true of the film path between all sets of upper and lower spools. That is, the film as it passes from the center of the periphery of the take-oil side of a lower spool 61 to the center of the periphery of the take-on side of. the next upper spool 64 passes in a vertical direction and although it twists about an angle of 90 travel, the right angle relation above described results in the center of the periphery C (Fig. 4) of each upper spool 64 being directly in line with the corresponding center of the periphery of the aligned lower spool 61. Thus the lm as it passes in a series of sinuous loops is restrained from side thrust while passing over the various spools.

'I'he above described angular arrangement of film guiding spools is disclosed and claimed in the co-pending patent application of A. W. Munson. led July 28, 1936, Serial No. 93,042.

It will be noted on reference to Fig. 3 that a second row of lm compartments, generally indicated at 18, is situated closely adjacent and during its compartment.

.conduit for the row 18 from parallel to the above described row of film compartments, and is of identical construction-but placed in a back to back relation to the row of compartments I8 to I5, inclusive. vThis second row 18 is supplied with conditioned drying air by a conduit and blower system not shown but similar to that shown in Fig. 1. However, the same air conditioning unit I8 of Fig. 1 may be employed, using a common outlet manifold (not shown) in lieu of the outlet conduit 24 to supply conditioned air to boththe conduit 25 for the row of compartments I8 to I5, inclusive, and a similar the unit I8. v

It will be noted in Fig. 2 that the 'film 12, on entering the compartment |8 from the various film treating solutions (not shown) which leave the film in4 a wet condition, passes through an opening 13 and is drawn over a film drive sprocket 14 extending into the compartment I8 and having its axis at right angles to the average path of the film' through the compartment. Film 12 on leaving the compartment I8 passes over a freely rotatable transfer or guide spool 15, through an opening 18 in the adjacent end walls of the compartments I8 and Il, and is thence drawn by means of a llm transfer spool or sprocket v11 into the compartment `I I.

'Ihe drive for the sprocket 11 as well as the support for both the sprocket 11 and spool 15 is shown in detail in Figs. 4 and 5. A horizontally extending support or bracket 88 is secured at one end thereof on top of the -channel member 58 adjacent the right hand end of compartment I8 by volts, one of which is shown at 8l. 'l'.'he other end of the support 88 (not shown) is supported on a similar channel member provided in an opposite parallel fllmcompartment. A longitudinally extending drive shaft 82, exteriorly of the compartment I8, is mounted in a ball bearing, indicated by the dotted lines 83 carried in a bearing housing 84 formed on the support 88. Shaft 82 is coupled by means of a flexible,

coupling 19 to a co-extensive drive shaft 85 rotatably mounted at the left hand end thereof in abearing 88 carried by a support 81, similar to that of 88. A similar support and bearing are provided at each end `of each of the compartments I8 to I5, inclusive, to rotatably support coextensive shaft sections similar to those of 82 and 85, each extending the length of its respective As shown in Fig. a vertically extending stub shaft 88 is rotatably mounted in a bearing 88 integrally formed in the support 81. The axis of the shaft 88 intersects the axis of shaft section 85 at right angles thereto and is rotatably connected thereto by means of a pair of bevel gears 88 and 8| secured to the shafts 85 and 88, respectively. A bevel gear 92 secured'at the upper end of stub shaft 88 meshes with a-mating bevel gear 83 secured at the end of a sprocket shaft 94 extending-horizontally at right angles to the shaft 88. Shaft 84 carries at theopposite end thereof the film sprocket 11 and is rotatably journalled within a bearing 95 supported by brackets 81 from a sector shaped plate 88. Bearing 96 extends through an enlarged aperture |25 formed in the wall 45. Plate 88 is slidable on the upper surface ,of the support 81 and'has a depending circular bearing sleeve |88, co-axial with the shaft 88 and rotatably received within a socket |8| formed in the upper surface of the support 81. Av pair of elongated arcuate slots |82 and |83 are formed in the plate 88 extending concentric with the boss formed in part by the wall lun. Bolts m and unsr extend through slots |82 and |83, respectively, and are threaded in the support 81 to lock the plate 88 in different angular positions. Thus it will be seen that the position of the lm sprocket 11 may be vshifted about the axis of the shaft 88. This may'be done either while the apparatus is in operation or stationary.

The spool for guiding the film 12 onto the sprocket 11 is supported in a manner similar to that of the sprocket 11. A bearing support mem- -ber |81 extending through an enlarged aperture |26 in wall 45 is provided to rotatably support the shaft (not shown) of the spool 15. Member |81 is supported through suitable brackets upon a sector plate member |88 pvotally mounted, in a manner similar to that shown in Fig. 5. to the support 88 for movement about an axis intersecting the axis of the shaft section 82 at right angles thereto. That is a bearing boss, indicated by the dotted lines 85, depends from the plate |88 and is mounted in a corresponding socket formed in the bracket 88. Clamp screws- I|8 and extending through arcuate slots H2 and H3, respectively, concentric with the bearf tion relative to each other and to the correspondingV lower spools from and to which the film passes before and after travelling over the spool 15 and sprocket 11'. These clamp screws are then permanently locked. This provision permits an accurate parallelalignment of the spool 15 and v sprocket 11 with each other even though the compartments I8 and II may be slightly misaligned with each other, thus preventing a side thrust from being exerted by the film against the edge flanges of the spools and sprocket I5 and 11, respectively.

As shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 a pair of doors II4 and I|5 cover the front of each of the film compartments I8 'to I5, inc1usive. These doors open at their adjacent ends to permit threading, inspection or repair-.of the film in the compartments andare vertically khinged as at IIS to either end of each compartment. Windows II1 and |I8 are provided in the doors |I4 and H5, respectively, to permit inspection of the film traveling through the respective compartment.

A film illuminating4 compartment generally indicated at I|8 (Figs. 2 and 3) provided adjacent the lower end of each film compartment to illuminate the .film passing through the compartment as well as the'interior of the compartment itself. Compartment I8 -is' substantially rectangular in shape, one wall thereof being partment. A translucent or frosted dow pane |28 is situated adjacent the top of the compartment I8 and forms the remainder of the wall intermediate the compartments I8 and ||8. A plurality of spaced illuminating lamps |2I are mounted in sockets |22 suitably supported from the rear wall I 23 of the compartment |I8. Lamps |2| are situated below the lower edge of the pane |28. The upper portion of wall |23 slopes inwardly at |24 toward the top thereof to form a refIector to reflect the light from lamps |2| onto the surface of the ground glass pane |28 and thus uniformly illuminate the entire area thereof.

45 of the film comglass win- When the drying apparatus is in operation an operator on viewing the film illuminated by the light from lamps IZI passing through the translucent pane |20, may determine whether or not the film is being thoroughly dried during its passage through the various compartments. If more or less drying is required the temperature or humidity of the conditioned drying air may be regulated as desired. Also, the speed of the film may be varied to produce a greater or less drying effect on it for a given degree of temperature and humidity of the drying air.

The position of the window |20 of compartment H9 substantially flush with the inner surface of the wall 45 of compartment I 0, assists in forming a smooth, unbroken air passage throughout the length of the compartment I0. A further factor in producing a smooth passageway through compartment Ill is the provision of the upper spool head or bar 5B with the inner face thereof co-extensive with the inner surface of the wall 45. With this construction it will be seen that there are no large obstructions or recesses in the compartment l0 to deiiect or obstruct the passage of drying air through the compartment I0 and thus cross currents which would result in fiapping or swaying of the various strands of the loops of film passing through the compartment.

While the lm driving apparatus above described has been illustrated in connection with the dry end of film processing, it may be used in the wet end, or in a storage elevator, or the like.

I claim:

1. Film treating apparatus comprising a compartment having walls, an inspection window in one Wall of said compartment, a translucent pane in an opposite wall of said compartment, means on the exterior o said compartment and on the side thereof adjacent said pane for illuminating said pane, means for passing a film treating fluid through said compartment, means comprising a lower spool head for passing a. film through said compartment behind said window and within the illumination of said pane, and lguide rails in said compartment .for supporting said lower spool head for vertical movement across the front of said pane.

2. Means .for driving a film through a current of drying air in a drying compartment while i1- luminating the film for inspection purposes Without thereby substantially producing eddy currents in the drying air comprising theI combination of a film drying compartment having a transparent front wall and a back wall, an upper spool head flush with saidback wall, a lamp compartment having a window substantially flush with said back Wall, a lowerV spool head in front of said back wall, and means supporting said lower spool head for vertical movement across said window.

3. A film drying apparatus comprising a film compartment having walls, a spool head in said compartment, means for fixedly supporting said spool head with the side thereof facing the interior of said compartment in the plane of the inner face of one of said walls, a plurality of film guiding spools, means extending into said compartment from said spool head for..rotatably supporting said spools, means cooperating with said spools for supporting the film in a plurality of loops, and means for passing a current of air longitudinally through said compartment.

4. A film drying compartment according to claim 3 comprising a drive shaft bearing member supported by said spool head, a drive shaft rotatably supported by said member, a horizontal sprocket shaft rotatably supported by said member, and a vertical stub shaft rotatably carried by said member, and geared to said drive shaft and said sprocket shaft. 1

5. A film drying compartment having wall sections spaced apart vertically in a plane, a horiziontal spool head in the space between said sections and secured thereto and having the inner face thereof in said plane, means cooperating with said spool head for supporting the film in loops, and means whereby to direct lm drying fluid through said compartment.

6. Apparatus for guiding an elongated film in a predetermined path comprising upper and lower spool heads adapted to guide a film therearound in a plurality of loops through said path, a transfer spool, means for rotatably supporting said transfer spool with the axis thereof in a fixed angular relation to said path, a second transfer spool, means for rotatably supporting said second transfer spool, means whereby the axes of said transfer spools may be angularly adjusted in a substantially horizontal plane relative to said path to guide'said film without side thrust,

f and means for driving said second transfer spool to drive the film. l

7. Apparatus for guiding an elongated photographic film comprising a plurality of juxtaposed film compartments, means for guiding the film through each of said compartments, a film driving spool for driving the film from said film f guiding means in one compartment to said film guiding means in an adjacent compartment, means for rotatably supporting said spool, means -whereby the axis of said spool may be angularly adjusted in a horizontal plane to guide said film therebetween without side thrust, and means for driving said spool.

ALBERT W. TONDREAU. 

